The City of Nashville first undertook
the construction of a full-scale replica of the Parthenon to house the
art exhibition for the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition. Cities, industries
and other interest groups built pavilions for the celebration. Nashville's
pavilion was constructed of brick, wood and plaster and was intended to
reflect the city's reputation as the "Athens of the South."
The celebration lasted from May to
October of 1897, just six months. Once the exposition was over, all of
the buildings were moved or disassembled except for the Parthenon. Due
to popular demand, the city left the temporary structure standing which
was replaced by a permanent structure finished in 1931. Today, the Parthenon
is the centerpiece of Centennial Park, a city park named for this memorable
celebration.
By as early as the 1950's, it had
become apparent that cosmetic repairs would soon be necessary for the building's
decorative concrete forms and areas most exposed to the weather. However,
the need for restoration was not fully addressed until only a few years
ago. Fencing and scaffolding were erected around the Parthenon in 1991.
This signaled the beginning of the restoration process which will ultimately
take at least ten years and over 12 million dollars to complete.

Clickable Plan of the Parthenon in Nashville 1: Pronaos. 2: Naos. 3: Treasury. 4: Peristyle.(Click the image for a full screen view)

Athena is now clothed in gold, 10 years after completion of the sculpture,
the Nashville Athena has finally been finished as it was meant to be. They
used 23.75 carat Italian gold leaf, and estimate 90,000 leaves. See more
at
The Athena
Project - Summer 2002